


Eight-to-Noon

by mikeymell



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Coffeeshop AU, College AU, Fluff, M/M, Pining, coffee shop AU, expensive headphones, ft. jake dillinger as: ultimate wingman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-05 00:09:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11566266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikeymell/pseuds/mikeymell
Summary: He may not be a fan of hitting the coffeeshop every day, but he'd do anything if it meant seeing that barista guy every single day. It wasn't a crush, or anything! No, he was WAY too distracted for a crush, that'd be totally ridiculous. But he's nice to look at. The way he moves, though not quite coordinated, seems so put-together, in a sense.Who pays THIS much attention to baristas? So much that they know said baristas hours? And how to SPECIFICALLY stop by at the least busy time, so MAYBE he could get a few words in? Rich can't help but feel like a total idiot. A totally SMITTEN idiot, who was he fucking kidding?He's completely and 100% sure he knew this guy in high school, but he just can't put names to faces, can he?





	Eight-to-Noon

It wasn't like Rich had a mental log of everyone he knew in high school. If anything, he tried to keep high school far from his memory. Because literally no one, and he meant no one, wants to remember high school. 

 _Especially_ not after that freaky hivemind shit! Seriously, it was better off just being a blur.

But sometimes, blurs in your life showed back up, maybe three or four years in the future, but they fucking came back. Like this one, the guy working the coffee shop from eight to noon every day or so. There were plenty of hints that this dude might be one of the blurs from Rich's "interesting" high school past, but putting his face to a name? Fucking impossible. 

Literally.

Fucking.

Impossible.

And he KNEW he'd known this guy! That awkward first-meeting-since-high-school conversation was.... awkward, for lack of a better term. He'd say, _'Rich Goranski? Dude, haven't seen you since high school!'_. He'd be grinning.  
And then Rich'd go, _'Ohhhh yeah!! Nice to see you again, uhhh....'_.  
And then the other dude would laugh, a snorting yet ridiculously cute sound as he'd say, _'Hey, it's cool, I don't expect you to remember me. Lost my nametag, which.. has gotta kinda suck for you! Ah, well, we can't all be popular like you were! Still, real wicked seeing you here. What can I get ya?'_

That didn't stop Rich from feeling bad for not remembering such a memorable-seeming face and personality, though. God, no wonder he fucking hated himself! Maybe he SHOULD have spent his life being lame and sad, coulda done him the privilege of remembering people, maybe. Since y'know, that seems to be the unpopular kids' superpower nowadays. 

So for that first day, he sat alone at his table, steadily beginning to finish off his beverage as he kept stealing glances at the nametag-losing barista. How does one LOSE a nametag? Aren't there policies or something about this?? What the actual FUCK dude???

Despite all this, Rich wasn't totally disconnected from his high school life. He DID still talk to Jake, because really, why WOULDN'T he still talk to Jake Goddamn Dillinger? The dude was a legend, he was studying Psychology with a specialization in children. He told Rich he wanted to be a therapist, focused on kids but for anyone, really. He wanted to help people.

Rich thought that was fucking sick. The GOOD kind of sick. The kind of sick that makes you draw back in shock, like  _woah, that dude's fucking SICK._ Jake was an admirable guy, no wonder Rich crushed on him for so goddamn long.

But that, like most of the rest of high school, was in the past where it belonged.

Rich found himself pulling out his phone to shoot a text to the legend himself, wondering if he might know who that mystery boy was. Unlikely, but there was still a chance, right?

_[hey jake!! im having a crisis here please help asap]_

Of course, Jake was always quick to respond.

**['Sup Richie!! You doing okay??]**

_[I'M fine, but like. okay so hear me out. theres this rly cute guy @ that lil coffeeshop on campus and listen to me when i say that he's REALLY fucking cute]_

**[That hella swankified joint with the uhhh bear logo? Man, that place is SICK. The good sick, I mean! lol. Lotsa cute folks, you gotta b specific]**

_[he said he knew me in high school. lots of ppl knew me in hs. i dont know HIM. hes REALLY FUCKING HOT. like not that im crushing but holy SHIT]_

**[Not crushing?**

**That sounds fake, coming from you]**

_[dude stfu im having a serious problem]_

**[I'll say. You're telling lies like "I dont have a crush on the cute barista"]**

_[-_-]_

**[:(]**

**[Okay, okay, fine! I'll totes help u out dude whats he look like?**

_[tall-ish?]_

**[That doesnt narrow it down ur tiny Everyone and their dog is tall to you]**

_[JAKE. okay okay so hes tall-ISH. darkish skin, dark hair, cool haircut. glasses. really dorky smile. snorts when he laughs]_

**[Michael?]**

_[that sounds familiar??]_

**[His last name was like...Mell or smth! I only remember him because he used to hang out w/ Christine & Jeremy a lot. and /I/ used 2 hang with them a lot! So yeah I got to know him a little! He's the kid who had like the headphones all the time? MOUNTAIN DEW RED KID???]**

_[MICHAEL. HOLY SHIT HOW THE FUCK DID I FORGET ITS MICHAEL!! i think hes glo'ed up a bit tbh???]_

**[Whoa good 4 him!]**

_[ikr. i cant believe i got the hots for michael mell from high school. we were never tight :/]_

**[Yeah, he was kinda. Antisocial.]**

_[im gonna hit him up]_

**[Dont embarrass yourself! Or do so i have a reason 2 laugh @ you aside from the fact that u JUST admitted having the hots for him even when earlier you totally denied it?]**

_[i’m flipping u off but u cant see it]_

**[Fair enough.]**

Rich set his phone down, and slid it safely into his pocket. He hadn't actually been flipping Jake off, in the middle of a coffeeshop that'd be kinda weird. But mentally? Oh man. He was flipping him off so hard. Not because he was mad at Jake or anything, just because he was mad Jake was right. About him having the hots for Michael Mell, that loser from his high school years that he used to push around in the hallways and stuff like that. Goddamn it, he thought he was over petty crushes!

He looked back up at Michael, who was cheerily; almost TOO cheerily; taking the order of one of the usual flow of white girls wearing infinity scarves. Man. That was hypnotic. It wasn't like Rich didn't understand how people could resist staring at Michael. Except it was exactly that. How COULD someone resist staring at Michael? And could they teach him their ways? He was seriously at a loss, and he didn't want to seem rude or anything by watching Michael go about his life normally.

If he were as confident as he was his junior year of high school, Rich would've asked Michael out right there on the spot. Made it all smooth. Threw in some flattery, a good pick-up line that was carefully formed by to appeal to his target specifically. But he'd grown up since then.

Rich could very easily say that today was not the day to ask Michael Mell out.

BUT! It was a GREAT day to notice him. 

Coming to a stand, Rich took his empty cup towards the trash bin as he usually would on days he felt fancy enough to hit the coffeeshop. Except today was gonna be different. Today, Rich stopped by the counter, catching Michaels eye before he pulled a grin and said, "Michael Mell! Dude, you shoulda said something, I almost didn't recognize you! Love the new glasses, they totally suit you!"

And with that grin still hanging on his face, because he couldn't help himself after seeing Michael's eyes meet his for the second time that day, he walked off to the trash bin. He was giddy, to say the least, it's like his heart was trying to drop the next totally fire mixtape with that speedy-as-fuck beat it had going on there. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Michael grinning, but covering it subtly with his hand as he continued talking to customers.

Rich didn't think he should hide it, personally. Everyone should see how amazing his smile was!

One more text to Jake as he walked out.

_[youre right tho. hes so fucking cute and this is how i die.]_

**Author's Note:**

> This was mostly a request from my boyfriend, but I was inspired by the lack of Expensive Headphones content to post it! And then I decided it needed more than one chapter. Hallelujah.  
> If it goes as planned, the four chapters are gonna be
> 
> -Noticing  
> -Pining  
> -Dating  
> -Loving
> 
> Stay tuned!! Your comments are always appreciated!
> 
> You can also find me on tumblr (@mikeyinthebathroom) and on twitter (@mikeyolives)! If I don't update in a longass time I'm giving you full permission to yell at/remind me to do so.


End file.
